Moderating Islamism

10.16.13

Egypt's Army and Muslim Brotherhood Are Negotiating, Says Islamist Leader

CAIRO—From a life in prison to freedom and a pivotal role in brokering a solution to the ongoing military crackdown, Aboud El Zomor, 66, has seen his life’s trajectory transformed by Egypt's January 25, 2011 revolution.

“Mubarak
had a vision that I would only leave in a coffin,” he said,
referring to the ousted authoritarian ruler's refusal to release him
after he had served his 25 year sentence. “Without the revolution I
would have never been released from prison,” he added.

Since gaining his freedom, El Zomor has taken a central role in founding Gama’a Islamiyya’s political wing, the Construction and Development Party, and in building the influence of the Islamist camp. He now plays a leading role in the Committee to Restore Legitimacy and is a key communication broker between the Muslim Brotherhood and the army.

Speaking
to the Daily Beast at his home in Giza on Saturday, he said both the
army and the Muslim Brotherhood have realized that neither is able to
break the other. As a result, there was potential for a political
breakthrough.

"The
street is hot with protests while the army has firm control. The
government has started to realize it has a problem," he said.
Protests against the army's July 3 ouster of Morsi have continued despite a
bloody crackdown that killed hundreds of protesters. "The
situation now is that no one can force their conditions. Neither the
Brotherhood nor SCAF [Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] can do
this, so they are prepared for dialogue." A plan for political
resolution is to be released after the Eid
al Adha holiday, which ended yesterday.

El
Zomor said his attempts to re-ignite talks between the army and the
Brotherhood showed signs of progress.

Negotiations had been suspended over the Islamist party's refusal to compromise on returning Morsi to power and re-implementing his party's 2012 constitution. But the Brotherhood is now focused on ending the military crackdown and obtaining the release of its 2,000 members currently in prison. El Zomor said the Islamists had become more flexible on key issues and that mediated communication with the army is ongoing.

"The
army did things with good intentions, they wanted to avoid any kind
of division or civil war,” he said. El Zomor's movement originally
split from the Brotherhood over the Gama'a Islamiyya's advocacy of
armed struggle, which the Muslim Brotherhood opposed. But the two
Islamist movements maintained close ties even after the ideological
split.

El
Zomor was once employed by army intelligence, even as he remained
clandestinely active in Gama’a Islamiyya. Today, he is pragmatic on
the role of Egypt's generals.

“My
position on the army [is] rational, not emotional,” he said, as he
sat in his living room wearing sandals and a silk galabiya. He said
he had disavowed armed insurgency tactics and believed Egypt needed a
pluralistic, democratic governing system. El Zomor added that the
followers of his movement had shared the army's frustration at
Morsi’s inability to stabilize Egypt's economic and political
crises.

But
he opposed the army's recent crackdown on dissent, arguing that the
legitimacy of popular governance needed to be restored.

“For
sure there is a lot of dangers to the freedom and goals of the
revolution,” he said. “Many Islamist currents feel it’s not a
transition but a period for revenge,” he added.

On
the other hand, El Zomor expressed pride in the legacy of the army
and equated its military successes with the uprising that freed him.

For
El Zomor, the January 25 revolution's main result was a shift in the
balance of power power between the army and Islamist politics.

“Before
January 25, Islamist [political] activity was banned,” he said.
“After, we got our freedom from prison without condition. We had
the freedom to construct our own parties and to freely [organize].”

Despite
the ongoing curfew and state of emergency laws, El Zomor said he was
confident that negotiations with the army would result in the
re-emergence of political process in Egypt.